Keonjhar: This is life as 13-year-old Arto knows it. Every morning at 8 -- for the past two years -- he takes buffaloes out for grazing. He comes back at 6 in the evening, and in return he gets food and free lodging. At the end of the year, he'll be paid 4000 rupees by his employer.
A conversation with Arto:
Arto: My parents didn't have the money to send me to school
NDTV: But you wanted to study?
Arto: Yes....
NDTV: Do you get money for your work?
Arto: Yes.
NDTV: How much?
Arto: Rs 4000 at the end of the year.
NDTV: You send money to your father ?
Arto: Yes I do.
NDTV: What next?
Arto: I will continue doing this and may be later look for a job in a hotel
NDTV: How much will they pay you ?
Arto: 500 rupees
His employer, a 62-year-old farmer Bhaktbandhu Mohanta, says he took Arto in at the request of his parents.
"His parents came to me and begged of me to keep their child. They said he will work for you and stay with you. Seventy per cent of the children here leave school and take up petty jobs for survival. Our land may be rich in minerals but the benefits don't reach us one bit. There's poverty all around and the children here don't have a future."
Arto's village is just ten kilometers away. He is the third among four children of Ram Bhogtia, a cowherd whose earnings are too little to feed his family.
The irony of this land where the Bhogtia family eke out a living is that just nearby are the Gandhamardan Hills known for huge iron ore deposits. Iron ore worth thousands of crores is mined and transported from Keonjhar every year, resulting is loss of forest cover and environmental pollution.
Despite five decades of extensive mining in this tribal dominated district, basic infrastrucure is a far cry.
Says Samadipta, an NGO worker at Banspal, Keonjhar: "The benefits of mining do not reach these pockets. The pollution of air, water and land due to mining has affected the people in a big way. And poverty of the parents here has ensured their children drop out of school."
The deforestation has also disturbed the elephant population in this region with their traditional migratory routes disrupted. Herds of elephants have no choice but to pass thru villages leading to conflict with the people there.
But what's really shocking is that till now no environment impact assessment study has been carried out in this region. Orissa has signed 45 MoUs worth lakhs of crores with some of the top steel companies of the world, but nobody knows whether the area can even sustain this level of plundering.
So, while the state embarks on a so-called Steel Revolution. It means little to the children of this region who, like Arto, are happy to a get a warm meal at the end of the day.